


Worth A Try

by fire_sprite



Category: Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Apologies, Arguing, Forgiveness, Gen, The Fic Where Lydia and Beetlejuice Talk and Process Their Emotions In A Healthy Way, This Is Just 1K of Me Putting Beetlejuice on the Path to Redemption, no beetlebabes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-28 00:49:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20417138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fire_sprite/pseuds/fire_sprite
Summary: “But... why couldn't we have just stayed like that? No school, no parents, no marriage―”Both of them pulled a face. Beetlejuice continued.“Just... why couldn't it have been the two of us?” he asked, trying to keep the scowl off his face.-Lydia and Beetlejuice need to talk. So they go on the roof.





	Worth A Try

“But... why couldn't we have just stayed like that? No school, no parents, no _ marriage_―”

Both of them pulled a face. Beetlejuice continued.

“Just... why couldn't it have been the two of us?” he asked, trying to keep the scowl off his face.

“It wasn't healthy, Beej,” Lydia said, using the nickname as an attempt to placate him. “You and I both know that.”

_ Healthy. _Beetlejuice hated that word. It always ended up with somebody saying everything wrong with him.

His fists clenched. “You didn't care _ what _ was healthy when you tried to throw yourself off the roof,” Beetlejuice muttered.

On seeing the look on Lydia's face, he immediately regretted it. “Lyds, I―”

“_Don't _ use that against me,” Lydia said quietly. Her voice gave no chance to argue. Not that he would. “You _ know _that was my lowest point, Beetlejuice.”

Fuck. _ Shit_. She was using his full name now. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

“I'm not―I didn't―God, this is hard,” the tips of Beetlejuice’s hair flared red for a second. He swiped through it. “Sorry,” he grumbled. “I meant to say―that was shitty. ‘M sorry. But… I still don't understand. What was so... _ unhealthy,_” he scowled, for real this time, “About just―just hanging out with your friends? And having fun? Forever?”

Beetlejuice felt like he was answering his own question, which wasn't fair to Lydia. She wasn't there to answer every single question he had.

“It _ was _ fun,” Lydia allowed the slightest smile, “Really fun. It was probably the most I'd been happy since... since Dead Mom. But staying locked up in my house, I was as good as dead. You told me that yourself.”

Lydia took a deep breath, which Beetlejuice assumed was going to be the start of a monologue. He was correct.

“I didn't have any live friends. I was living off of that pie the neighbor brought and goddamn _ Domino's, _ which _ isn't _ what we're supposed to be eating a lot,” Lydia clarified, in case she thought Beetlejuice was confused.

“And,” she added in a rush, “And if Delia were here she’d probably say something about how having all the lights off was bad for my eyes. And just―think about it, BJ. I couldn't have stayed there forever,” and she held up a hand as Beetlejuice started to protest. “You know I couldn’t have. I’d go crazy or something. Dad and Delia were supposed to take care of me, not you and twenty other clones.”

Lydia could _ too _ have stayed there forever. They might have had to work out a plan, but it could’ve worked. And they could have scared away anyone who said otherwise. She’d barely even given him a _ chance _ before trying to get her _ mom _ back.

“Don’t forget your dead mom, too,” Beetlejuice shot back at her. “Add _ her _ to the list of people who can take better care of you than I can. ‘Cause someone who isn’t even _ there_―”

Lydia stood up, glaring at him. She'd lost her patience. “Beetlejuice, think about it! If you can get over your mommy issues for just _ one second _ and find some _ compassion_―"

“Why do _ I _ have to be the one with the compassion around here?” Beetlejuice snarled back, standing as well. “Why can't you put yourself in _ my _ shoes, think about being alone for a _ million years_―”

“If you could just _ imagine _ what it's like to have someone to care about you so much, and―"

“Think about having no one who actually _ wants _ to talk to you―”

“They're gone and you _try_ to reach out but nobody ever says a _fucking_ _word_ to you―”

“Just wanting―”

“You just want―”

“_Somebody to talk to!_”

Their voices echoed off the wide, empty rooftop.

Beetlejuice and Lydia stood face to face, faces and hair red, breathing heavily.

The silence broke. Unsurprisingly, it was Beetlejuice who broke it.

“We were both desperate,” he whispered, realizing slowly. “and we were… so, so lonely.”

His hair dimmed.

“You used me for being alive, and I used you for being dead.” Lydia said quietly. “Neither of us are completely innocent.”

That was fair, Beetlejuice thought, as he watched the flush drain out of Lydia’s face.

“But I did a lot more shitty stuff,” Beetlejuice admitted.

Lydia gave a dry laugh. “Yeah. You did.”

There was a little bit more of a silence. Lydia stepped to the balcony railing, letting the wind blow in her face. Beetlejuice joined her.

“By the way,” Beetlejuice said quickly, “I didn't want to _ actually _ kill everyone. I was really… emotional―_God, _ that's a bad excuse―and I was overreacting.”

“Hell of an overreaction,” Lydia looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well, I made up for it when I saved you guys all from Juno.”

“No, you didn't.”

“Yeah, I didn't,” Beetlejuice frowned, leaning on the balcony railing. “I gotta lot of apologizing to do.”

Which was something Beetlejuice never, ever thought he'd say.

“Well, you can start with one right now,” Lydia said, looking like she didn't really expect him to apologize, which was… hurtful.

“Lydia…” Beetlejuice took his time, trying to remember if she had a middle name. His memory, however, failed him.

“Lydia Deetz, I’m sorry.” Beetlejuice said, uncharacteristically softly. “I’m sorry that I only cared about you at first because you could see me. Say my name. All that stuff.”

_ Someone to talk to. _ Beetlejuice knew―obviously―that Lyds knew how _ that _ felt.

“And for… uh… throwing your family out of the house,” Beetlejuice saw it all too well in his mind's eye, and tried not to grin as he remembered the handsy dishes.

(He was only a demon, after all. And it was _ funny_).

“I'll give you a free pass on that one,” Lydia gave him a wry smile. “You were doing what I told you to do.”

Beetlejuice paused, unsure if she was joking. He decided she was. “Either way. I’m sorry.”

Lydia nodded, so he figured he was on the right track.

“And sorry for…” Beetlejuice grimaced. This was a complicated one. “For exorcising Barbara and making sure the only way to save her was to have you green-card-marry me. When you thought you were going to bring back your mom.”

Lydia nodded a little stiffly at that. Beetlejuice didn't blame her. He wouldn't forgive himself for that yet either. So that was going to take a while to work off.

“And for trying to send Adam and Barbara back to the Netherworld anyway, when you _ did _ agree t’marry me."

Beetlejuice felt bad about all of the stuff he did, but something about that little twist he really hated. He was almost glad that Lydia stabbed him for that.

“And for just being… shitty. Saying I was going to start _ murdering_―ugh.” Beetlejuice clenched the railing tightly, looking down at the ground below absently. He looked back at Lydia.

“So yeah. I'm sorry.”

Another pause.

“My turn.”

She paused, then said, “Beetlejuice… I don't know your last name.”

“Actually, that’s my middle name,” Beetlejuice said conversationally, not answering her question in the slightest.

“Uh… cool. Beetlejuice, I’m sorry for ditching you for Adam and Barbara, ditching you for Dead Mom, ditching you for the _ Netherworld, _ and stabbing you and trying to send you back to your mom,” Lydia said, counting it off on her fingers. Somehow, Beetlejuice wasn't surprised she’d put it into list form.

“Hey, everyone's done it once,” Beetlejuice shrugged, but he sobered up once he saw Lydia’s face. “All right, all right. I get it.”

Lydia stuck out her hand, a look of finality in her eyes. “Here's to not doing any more shitty stuff.”

Beetlejuice hesitantly shook it. He couldn’t promise he wouldn’t slip up―Lydia knew that―but he could try.

“To not doing any more shitty stuff,” Beetlejuice echoed.

He grinned. And Lydia grinned right back.

* * *

Beetlejuice had done, hell, a _ lot _ of bad stuff. But he was learning. And apologizing. And doing a whole lot of things he'd never thought he'd do. 

But Beetlejuice thought, he thought that maybe, for the first time in his afterlife, maybe he'd gotten a chance. A chance to not fuck everything up again.

And hey. It was worth a try.

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen far too many works where Beetlejuice is forgiven quickly in order to get into the plot, but I wanted to write something where Lydia and BJ have to talk it out. I love "weird family member Beetlejuice" as much as everyone, but I wanted to put him on the path to (logical) redemption first.


End file.
